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Sant'Eligio a Villaggio Prenestino
Sant'Eligio a Villaggio Prenestino is a 20th century parish church in an obscure location at Via Fossa dell'Osa 435 in the suburb of Villaggio Prenestino. The road it is on connects the village of Lunghezza on the Strada dei Parchi with Largo Regillo on the Via Prenestina, and runs through an unplanned and haphazardly developed exurban (rather than properly suburban) district. The zone is Lunghezza. Pictures of the church on Wikimedia Commons are here. The patron saint is Eligius of Noyon. History The parish was set up in 1963, and was provided with a church by Aldo Aloysi which was finished in 1967. Unfortunately, problems arose with the structure and there was a restoration in 1990 by Mario Novelli. This involved a new façade. Exterior The church is a simple Modernist design, avoiding Brutalism. The plan is a simple rectangle, with a rectangular apse attached. The external walls are in yellow brick blocks and there is a flat roof. The side walls are divided equally by a narrow string course in cream, and in between this and the ground and roofline are two grey concrete beams running horizontally the full length. Near front and back on each wall is a window protected by a cage of vertical steel bars. There is a cross-shaped metal sculpture attached to a horizontal bracket projecting from the roofline just behind the left hand corner of the façade. The façade itself has two storeys. The first one, as high as the entrance, is wider than the building and continues on either side as a screen wall. It is in yellow brick, with a grey concrete plinth (which is assymetric, being horizontal on the right but going down a step on the left). The cream string course features in the centre, and the upper edge is a wide beige stripe. The entrance doorway has a triple triangular canopy in dark red, and is approached by a flight of three steps. Above the doorway, the second storey has a beige background. There is a rectangular window in the centre, and a narrower one on each corner. Twenty-two vertical concrete pilasters stripe the frontage, one passing over each side window and two over the central window. These float at their bottom ends, where each has a small black disc (rather like the eye of a needle) and each pair is separated by a red block. At the roofline, the pilasters are connected by a red zig-zag on a grey background. The effect is surprisingly whimsical. The coat-of-arms of Blessed Pope Paul VI, in bronze, is over the entrance. Interior The interior is basically a rectangular box with a flat ceiling. The lower walls are in pale yellowish blocks decorated by a row of large outline diapers formed by slightly protruding pale grey blocks. This zone is topped by a frieze consisting of a vertical row of bronzed rods. The upper walls and ceiling are in creamy white. The altar has a bronze representation of ''The Last Supper ''on its frontal, and is flanked by statues of Our Lady and St Eligius. The apse is flanked by a pair of blind pilasters in gold paint, and contains a sunburst tabernacle. Over this is an extremely abstract crucifix, which has to be seen to be believed and is the best artwork in the church. Liturgy Mass is celebrated: Weekdays 19:00, except on Thursdays from 15 September to 31 March when it is at 8:00; Sundays and Solemnities 8:00, 10:00, 11:30 (from 15 September to 31 March), 19:00 External links Official diocesan web-page Italian Wikipedia page Parish website, with photo Info.roma web-page Category:Catholic churches Category:Dedications to St Eligius Category:Outside the walls - North-East Category:Parish churches Category:20th century